


A Science, or Maybe an Art Form

by Welfycat



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: stargateland, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-01
Updated: 2011-06-01
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welfycat/pseuds/Welfycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being prisoners was something they were getting very good at.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Science, or Maybe an Art Form

**Author's Note:**

> Written for StargateLand, Prompt: 11- SG1, Team, Prison routines.  
> Content Notes: Brief captivity, mentions of other times held captive.

Unfortunately being unceremoniously thrown into a prison cell wasn't something that was uncommon for them, and if asked Daniel would have probably mentioned that they were actually lucky none of the civilizations they'd encountered so far seemed inclined to immediate executions, but he had to admit that it at least put a damper on their plans to peacefully get to know a group of people and learn about their culture.

"Everyone alright?" Jack asked from where he was pushing himself to his feet and immediately locating each member of the team before moving on to examine their surroundings.

This time they had been almost literally thrown into the prison, although it would have been more accurate to say that they'd been shoved with more force than was necessary considering they had already been stripped of weapons and their hands were bound behind their backs.

"Fine, sir," Sam responded immediately from somewhere to Daniel's left.

"I am well," Teal'c said.

"Just terrific," Daniel replied, pushing himself to his knees as best he could. Someone had to make a sarcastic comment, typically that task usually fell to Jack, just to prove that they were fine. If they could joke and grouse about the situation, everything would end up alright. He'd hit the back wall when he'd been pushed into the cell though he didn't feel like he was bleeding anywhere and his glasses seemed intact. It was a good first step.

He felt hands helping him the rest of the way up and looked up to find that Teal'c already had his hands untied and was pulling apart the knots that bound Daniel. He smiled his thanks and leaned against the wall as he rubbed his wrists and regained his equilibrium. The skin was a little red and raw but unbroken and he mentally downgraded his estimation of their captors from a potentially life-threatening concern to mildly incompetent or not as violent as they appeared on first sight. He had pale scars that wrapped around both his wrists from P4X-930 where the bindings had been fused with some kind of metal and far too tight; after that rope just didn't seem particularly problematic anymore. The entire Stargate Program was proof that a person could get used to just about anything.

"Lock is reasonably simple, I might be able to pick it," Sam said, already standing by the door and getting reaching out to examine the mechanism. Teal'c was by her side, moving from one side to the other so that he could get a good look down the hallway for any guards or other prisoners that might be present.

"Bars are pretty well set, no window, all the lighting is outside. That door is our only way out, though this looks like a short term facility," Jack said as he finished his tour of the cell.

None of them mentioned that they hoped they it was only intended to be short term, the lack of water or blankets or anything at all would become concerning if they were left in there for more than a dozen or so hours, assuming that Sam couldn't get them out. The only time they started mentioning worst-case scenarios was when things were dire; when they'd been separated, when someone was bleeding so much they couldn't get it to stop, and when their captures were particularly inventive with their methods of information acquisition. The rest of the time they just acknowledged the worst case scenarios to themselves and did everything possible to keep it from happening.

"Any idea what we did to piss them off, Daniel?" Jack asked, letting Sam work at the lock while Teal'c stood guard.

Daniel sighed as he thought back over the little he'd seen as they'd been dragged through the town. There had been no authority figure who had given them direction to be taken away, they had barely gotten more than a few sentences out when they'd basically been ambushed, and they had been taken around the edge of town instead of being paraded through the main streets. Overall, it had been a very efficient and mostly harmless capture. "Maybe we were on sacred ground of some kind?" he finally suggested.

"Sacred ground, that's the best you've got?" Jack asked. His slight ill temper was also fairly customary for a brief time after they'd been captured and they all accommodated it as best as possible.

Daniel thought that it was some primal leader thing, self disgrace at not being able to protect his people, so he accepted Jack's reprove in the general frustration that it was and didn't snip back at him. It had taken him a year or four to learn how to do that. "It's happened before. Unless they have a serious distrust of outsiders or something about our dress or what little we said offended them, which doesn't seem the case because their clothing was fairly similar, I'm not sure what else it could be. We'll just have to ask them when they come back."

"Ask them. Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Jack asked, but the fall of his hand on Daniel's shoulder and the gentle squeeze removed any sting from the words.

Sam worked on the lock while the rest of them took turns standing guard, the other two resting their bodies even though their minds were still alert. Jack and Teal'c bantered, with Daniel occasionally throwing in a thought or two just to keep the conversation going and reassure the rest of the team that he was fine. The conversation in general was just another way of keeping time going, keeping their minds active and sharp and push away thoughts that could become overwhelming if they stopped to think them through.

Sometimes it concerned Daniel that they could have being taken captive down to what was basically a science, or maybe an art form. There was variations on the routine depending on if they were in the equivalent of the general population of a prison or if one or more of them had been separated, but for the most part they had things under control even when it probably shouldn't have been possible.

Daniel sat in the middle of the floor, not letting the cold stone wall soak up any more of his body heat, and contemplated both the cultural significance of the way most jail cells seemed to be constructed and whether or not he should suggest to Hammond that they hold a Captivity 101 class for new recruits to the Stargate Program. The military personnel already had some of the training, though a few of those guidelines went out the window when dealing with completely alien prisons and cultures, but it would be good for the civilians and for teams just learning to work together. He'd just started to outline the curriculum when there was a click and Sam's quiet exclamation of success.

"Let's go. Stargate is about thirty minutes from here, plus or minus ten depending on how far out of our way we have to go to avoid guards. We have," Jack paused and checked his watch, "forty-five minutes before we miss our second check-in and they send someone out to look for us. Keep your eyes peeled for our weapons and packs. I'll take point, Teal'c brings up the rear."

They fell effortlessly into formation and moved quickly out of the cell. Escape was something else that they had down to a science and Daniel added another bullet point to his mental outline before he put the project aside and followed Sam down the corridor.


End file.
